


Skies

by Strawberrybats



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F, Love Live Big Bang, all fluff all the time B), gaaaaaaayyyyyyy, road trip au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 09:32:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8440426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberrybats/pseuds/Strawberrybats
Summary: Even in a completely different place, Eli and Nozomi are gay as hell. Road trip au for the love live big bang 2016.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lot of fun to write, even if it's mostly just gratuitous fluff and piles of romantic road trip tropes, so I hope you enjoy it as well! There is some very cute art to go along with the fic that you can find here: http://cool-kun.tumblr.com /post/152563118362 ! My partner cool-kun picked some cute scenes to draw! Thank you so much for reading, and be sure to check out some of the other big bang projects - there are so many cool ones!

Like most of her ideas, it came to Nozomi in the shower. Minding her own business, feeling the pressure against her back and humming _Snow Halation_ under her breath while she rinsed and repeated. She was a photographer, and that meant she didn’t have work hours most normal people would follow. She could, theoretically, take a very long ‘break’. Long enough to do the kinds of things one could only do over the course of weeks.

When she was younger, her parents would leave the house for days and weeks at a time, bringing back photographs of the kind of places Nozomi only ever saw on TV and giving her foreign candy for making sure the plants didn’t die.

She grinned and got back to washing her hair, pulling so hard in her haste that it hurt a little.

Eli was going to love this.

* * *

 

“A road trip? Nozomi, are you joking? Who’s going to watch Nomi?” Eli asked plaintively, cradling the mentioned cat in her arms. She purred in accordance, pressing her head into Eli’s chest. They sat together on their bed, Nozomi’s laptop glowing dimly in the lamplight on a page full of travel tickets. Eli sat on the other side, leaning up against the headboard and giving her an uncertain look. Nomi purred louder, tail curling up and around Eli’s neck.

_‘Lucky cat,’_ Nozomi noted dryly. Eli spoiled her rotten. Externally, she pouted and crossed her arms. “Elicchi, it could be so much fun! Nico or Rin can take care of Nomi for us, don’t worry so much.”

Eli pulled Nomi protectively closer. “What about my ballet class?” She asked stubbornly. “Who is going to teach my kids?”

“The gymnastics teacher can substitute for a few weeks,” Nozomi said dismissively, with a wave of her hand. “You have those kids a few months ahead of schedule, anyways. Let them have a break too!”

She looked hesitant; Nozomi huffed and leaned back against the headboard, sharing some quiet with Eli. This wasn’t as thrilling and spur of the moment as she had been hoping for, and Eli certainly wasn’t as excited as she’d imagined she would be when Nozomi pulled up the plane tickets online and brought up the idea.

Eli seemed to catch onto the disappointment, because she sighed, set Nomi down on her lap, and shuffled over the bed to Nozomi’s side, pulling the laptop up and angling it so they could both see. “Where do you want to go?” She asked, all traces of hesitance carefully removed from her voice.  

Nozomi blinked. Apparently the question was obvious enough, because Eli just gave her a goofy grin and sheepishly said, “Well, I mean, if your heart is set on it, of course I’m going to go. It’s been a while since we did something adventurous like this!” She said cheerfully. “Where are we going? Hokkaido? Fox village?”

Humming, Nozomi pulled up the locations she was interested in on her computer, then handed the laptop over to Eli with a hapless smile. “I think I could get some really great pictures here!”

The way Eli’s own smile faltered didn’t escape Nozomi, looking at the screen with something between dread and resignedness. “The states..?” She asked helplessly. “Didn’t we already go there?”

“Not every state,” Nozomi countered mischievously. “I want to see more of it than just one city.”

Eli sulked. “I can’t speak English at all,” She groaned. “Can’t we go somewhere a little closer? Or I could take you to visit Russia! There are a lot of fun things there!”

“Too cold,” She mimed a shiver, hugging herself and tucking her head, but then Nozomi peeked up to counter Eli’s baleful look with a grin. “Also, I can’t speak Russian at all.” She echoed.

“I could teach you if you were actually curious….” Eli grumbled. “Fine, go to the states….watch elichika suffer…… _какой беспорядок…_ ”

“Oh, clever,” Nozomi teased, giving Eli a light punch on the arm. “Complaining in Russian so your poor wife can’t find a way to fix it.”

Eli rolled her eyes. “I’m not feeling very clever right now, agreeing so easily.” She sighed. “When do you want to leave? Who are we having come over to take care of Nomi?”

“Let’s go as soon as possible – before something happens and I second guess myself.”

* * *

The act of actually getting Eli to leave the house on a whim was a lot harder in practice than in theory, and the resulting chaos pushed the travel date back a few days, always something _just this little bit more_ , something that _absolutely cannot wait_.

She had to say goodbye to all her ballet students and one was absent, and how the hell would Aina know Eli hadn’t planned it that way, so of course, they had to wait for her to come back at the next session.

Eli had to make sure that no less than four people had house keys to make sure someone was always available to take care of Nomi, even though Rin’s job meant she worked the same hours Eli normally did and she would be _more_ than happy to take care of her by herself, full time, and Eli absolutely, positively could not leave the house without practically an extra suitcase worth of pages upon pages of printed travel guides (although that may have been a slight exaggeration on Nozomi’s part).

All in all, 11 days, six hours and one cup of evening coffee had passed before Nozomi’s grand road trip scheme finally came to fruition. Pleased with the outcome, Nozomi pulled ahead of Eli, canister of coffee in one hand and the handle of a rolling purple suitcase in the other. Eli was having a somewhat tougher go of it, pulling the same suitcase (only it was blue, because otherwise the bags could get mixed up, obviously, Eli had explained three days ago when she told Nozomi she didn’t want to just grab a duffel bag) in one hand and using the other to hold a folder full of notes and also her own hot chocolate.

The flight wouldn’t be for a short while, so they found themselves easing into some of the cushioned seats that lined the terminal. Nozomi crossed her legs tightly and leaned over onto Eli, who hummed and adjusted herself to put an arm around her. “Excited?” She guessed.

Nozomi nodded, snuggling in closer so her head rested at Eli’s shoulder, near the base of her neck, face buried in the thick jacket. It still smelled like their detergent, and their cat, and the candle in the kitchen that Nozomi _hoped_ she remembered to put out.

Too late to check now, she reasoned, then let out a soft sigh and waited for their departure time.

…..But maybe a little too much. They ended up having to run to catch the flight, because apparently a watch wasn’t one of the things Eli invested in before the trip.

Then all there was between them and adventure was a ten hour flight, a car rental line and a language barrier.

Easy!

Nozomi spent the majority of the flight either sleeping or staring out the window, watching an unfamiliar sky blow past them, all blues and greys and the wispy remains of evening.

* * *

Going back through the customs check was a pain. Trying to have a half-decent length conversation with the woman at the rental center was a pain. Agreeing on the type of car to take was a pain. Getting out of traffic - pain. But it was worth it, eventually, after Nozomi had satisfied herself taking pictures around the city and they broke out of the gridlocked exits into the highway, then the countryside. It was just them and the music they brought and the little grey-brown rental car they chose at the airport.

Eli hummed in tune to the song, drumming her fingers along the steering wheel. “Is it weird to drive on this side of the road?” Nozomi asked from the passenger seat, leaning forward onto the dash. They’d been quiet for a while; not that it was a bad thing, she was just getting bored.

“It’s not too strange, but I’m somewhat used to it. I have to remind myself to drive this way whenever I visit my grandmother and Alisa.”

“They drive on the right side of the road in Russia, too?” Nozomi asked curiously, head cocked.

She nodded. “Mhm. Although, if you know that little about it, I kind of wish I’d been able to convince you to go there instead of here…..”

Nozomi giggled and gave her a what-can-you-do sort of shrug. “Hey, we both took an English class, remember? It’s more fair this way than if we went to Russia, I need time to figure out where the bathroom is, at least.”

Eli grumbled something about that not being necessary with her around before remembering what they were talking about in the first place and groaning. “Yes, but…!”

“But?”

“I totally forgot English! I never had to use it, why should I know it?!” She sent Nozomi a piteous look while they stopped for an intersection. “I printed out all these tour guides and stuff, but I’ve completely forgotten the way to our first stop because the signs are all mixed up!”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, pull over, we can just ask for directions. No big deal!”

Eli mumbled something again. Nozomi sent her a look. She stayed silent. “Come on, spit it out. Were you sassing your wife?”

“Maybe a little…..” She admitted, shame-faced.   
  
“Maybe someone is going to be sleeping on the chair instead of the bed tonight,” Nozomi teased, making it a point to dramatically turn her head away from her.

“If we can even find the hotel!” Eli hit her head on the steering wheel.

“Oh my god, look out for that old woman!” Nozomi cried suddenly, and Eli jerked up and made an attempt to swerve away from –

Absolutely nothing. “Nozomi, what did you go and do that for?!”

She snickered. “If you aren’t going to keep your eyes on the road, we could get in trouble. Do you want to pull over and let me drive? I can find the hotel for us.”

Eli looked down pensively, as if considering her options. “…..yes please.”

She gave her a reassuring smile.

* * *

On a hotel bed, after a long day of flying, driving, and more driving, it was nice to lay down and just. Not.

Not move, not translate things, not _think_.

Nozomi lazily rolled over on the bed, attempting to move closer to Eli’s side without the effort of sitting up and checking to see where she was. For her efforts, she ended up rolling a little too far and sending an arm to uselessly flop over Eli’s stomach.

“Oof.” She said, intelligently.

“Ugh.” Nozomi agreed sagely. She pulled herself up a little closer to the pillow (and Eli’s head) and curled in a little, so that she was hugging and not just lying uselessly on top. “I’m beat. How about you?”

Eli took a moment to consider it. She looked at the ceiling, then Nozomi, then the ceiling again. Finally, she took a breath. “…..I wanted to see the chocolate place……”

“The what?” Nozomi asked, propping herself up with an elbow. Now that she thought about it, she felt kind of guilty. She never….actually looked through the list of things to see Eli had spent hours thanklessly writing up.

….Yikes.

Eli blinked. “Um, it’s in a big city. The one with the red bridge.” She did a hand gesture to follow it, miming a bridge pattern. It clicked with Nozomi – her parents had brought back photographs and even taken her a few times.

She offered up a helpful smile. “The golden gate bridge?”

Eli furrowed her eyebrows, seeming somehow concerned. “No, it’s red.” She said, insistently.

“That’s the name, silly. It doesn’t actually mean it’s made of gold.” Playfully giving Eli’s nose a tap, Nozomi perked up a little more on the bed. “I didn’t know about chocolate, though.”

“But it’s theeeeeeerreee…..” Eli groaned, slumping back onto the bed. “It’s there and I read it was really really good! I want to try the fancy chocolate!”

Nozomi sighed and considered it. That city….. they’d already left it from the airport. They were a whole state away already. “Eli, that was in the city we got here from.”   
  
Eli groaned again, even louder this time. “I knew it! I knew I forgot something!”

“Look on the bright side!” If she tried to fall asleep with a moping Eli, it would be hell. They’d toss and turn and Eli would wake her up hogging the pillows and sulking. “Do you think we can investigate it on our way home? That way you can bring a fresh treat to all your students and our friends!”

“…that sounds like a good idea.” The response was tentative, and maybe a little lackluster, but it was a chance to prevent a fit, so Nozomi tried to feed into it a little more.

“Yeah, yeah! Just think of how happy your students will be when you get them the foreign candy~! And we can get some for our friends’ kids, too. I bet you can even be Dia’s favorite aunt again….”

Eli scowled. “Umi, that spot-stealer….” She grumbled, crossing her arms. The dark cloud didn’t last too long on her face before she relaxed and let out all her tension. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. It will be better to visit last anyways.”

“That’s the spirit!”

They sat still for a while, Nozomi holding a grinning pose and Eli staring appreciatively. Then the moment dragged on a little too long and Nozomi dropped it, loosing a casual laugh. “Heheh. Um, so. Now what?”  
  
There was very little considering options this time. “I want to get some sleep. We were driving all day and visiting the stuff around this region can wait. Many of the interesting things are a ways away.”

“That...” She yawned, an excellent intro to her next statement, “..Sounds like a great idea. I could sleep through the whole summer after that kind of jet lag.”

Eli shot Nozomi a wry smile. “Let’s not test that out; I’d rather we actually find things to enjoy as long as we’re here. I’ll set an alarm so we don’t miss out on the whole day.”

“Whatever you say~!” Nozomi replied breezily, not bothering to cover herself while she rummaged around her suitcase for pajamas. “I have a feeling you won’t be so strict about it when you’re wrapped in three layers of blankets and an alarm suddenly goes off.”

“Is that a challenge?”

Nozomi looked back and raised an eyebrow. “Is this a challenge?”

Eli’s face settled into that of grim determination. “You’re on.”

* * *

Despite Nozomi’s predictions, Eli was exactly that strict when it came to the alarm going off, which was saying something, because usually neither of them were morning people. “Get up and get dressed! We’re going to see some of the things on the list!”

She turned over onto her side. “It’s nighttime here anyways! We could go back to bed.” Nozomi reasoned.

“This one is something I’ve been advised to see at night, actually.” Nozomi felt a strong tug on both sides of the blanket she was wrapped up in, before unceremoniously being dumped out of it. Eli put the discarded blanket aside and pulled Nozomi into a seated position. “Wake up!”

“Ugh.” Eli tried to shake her awake. Nozomi tried to lay back down.

Eli tried again. It earned another, slightly more determined ‘Ugh’ from Nozomi.

So, Eil picked her up and moved her to the other side of the room, dumping her onto a (thankfully very soft) chair next to their bags. “You’ll like this! Bring your camera!”

“Nothing can be exciting at twelve thirty nine in the morning, plus jet lag…” She countered, but, at Eli’s insistence, they made it out the door by one and into the car. The road had surprisingly dense traffic for such a late hour, but it was still notably easier to get through than earlier that day. In the passenger seat, Nozomi rubbed the last of her coveted sleepiness out of her eyes and turned them towards her lap, where she was fiddling with the camera she’d brought along. “Where are we going?”

Eli kept her eyes on the road and hummed, seeming unphased by the question. “Without spoiling it…..do you remember the first time we came here?”

“Eli! We’re on the entire other side of the country, we can’t be going all the way back to New York!” She exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. They couldn’t cross the continent so easily…. They’d be in the car for weeks!

“I know that. We aren’t.” Eli laughed a bit to herself, but kept both hands on the wheel. “I just heard that this place was a lot like that, is all. You liked the buildings and lights, right? Maki said you looked out the window quite often at night.”  
  
Relieved and a little embarrassed by her own lack of faith, Nozomi leaned back in the seat and nodded. “Yeah, it was really something we don’t see as much. Our house doesn’t have the same kind of view as that – although going out to town at night is still exciting.”

“Well….” Eli said at length, having lost any edge of surprise she might’ve had, “This is a city like that.”

“Oh?” They were already coming up to a city, and she hadn’t even noticed…. Nozomi grinned. “Eli, you sneak. Distracting me?”

Eli shrugged innocently. “If I’m building up the suspense, and I just happen to keep you from looking out the window, then it’s hardly a count against me.” Nozomi stuck her tongue out. Eli rolled her eyes affectionately. “…But yes, I distracted you. We’re going to have a tough time finding a good place to stop, so have your camera ready – we’re going to pass some cool buildings.”

“Where are we, anyways?” Nozomi queried, squirming to get a better look out the window. They were approaching a lot of lights fast, but it didn’t mean she knew where in the hell they were. She squinted over the traffic. Tall buildings, some beams of light, lots of neon…..

Was that a pyramid?

They did a photoshoot for this place before…!

She grinned. “Did you take me here to get a lapdance?”

“Wh- no!” Eli sputtered, sending a poor, confused kicked puppy look her way. “It has a lot of lights and, and, Nico suggested it to me and – oh. she’s – that’s – oh.” A stifling silence washed over Eli, and indeed, practically the entire car, as Eli stared despondently at the dashboard and tried to keep her eyes off the sidewalk.

Nozomi had less reservations. “Wow, her boobs are even bigger than m-“ Well, actually….If she had to do a critical analysis…. About even?

Eli was hitting her head against the steering wheel. Nozomi snapped a picture.

* * *

“I can’t believe I took you to a place like that….!” Though last night had been _fun_ , Eli obviously had her issues with Nico’s recommended locales, and, hence, Nozomi teased the shit out of her for it and wound up driving.

She hummed pleasantly. “I think it was interesting! The closest I’d been to vegas before was in front of a poster for our photoshoot. It’s so much…. Brighter, in person~!”

Eli sighed and deflated onto the passenger seat, defeated. “Well, since you get to pick where we go next….” She trailed off, obviously intending for her to suggest a location.

Nozomi had to think about it. There were a lot of good hiking spots that Umi had excitedly recommended to her, but if she had to pick some that stuck out the most to her… She pulled over and took her map out to look for the area that it would be in and compare it to where they were already. It wasn’t _too_ far…

Decided, she pointed to it. “Umi says there is a place called the castle rock here; I want to get pictures and see if there’s any lingering energy.”

Eli peered over at the map. “That’s pretty far,” She said doubtfully, with a small frown. “We’d definitely have to make a stop halfway if we don’t want to drive all night, but we could get there in a day.”

“But you’d like to go on a hike?”

She shrugged and offered up a sheepish sort of smile. “I’ve been slacking on my exercise anyways. This should be a good way to remind myself of what to do!”

“Well, tell me where you think we should stop, alright? I’d like to get a little more than halfway so that we can check out towns when we’re done hiking.” Pulling back onto the road, she leaned back into the seat and steered with one hand while she absentmindedly felt around for a CD with her other.

“Shouldn’t you have switched them before we started moving again?” It was critical, but all in good nature – Eli handed her the disc closest to her hand and Nozomi checked it before deciding that wasn’t it and fishing for one more at the red light.

“Ah, it’s more efficient this way. Besides, you’d have seen the one I’m trying to get.”

Eli sounded doubtful. “I can see it anyways.”

“Not this one~!” Nozomi chimed, finally feeling the ridges of the _particular_ case she wanted. Eli watched her slip the blank burner CD into the radio. “I switched the discs. You have no idea what I just put in the car.”

“I will when it plays.” At that, Nozomi just grinned. The chime at the beginning kicked in and, true to her word, Eli instantly recognized the tune. “Clever. And how romantic.”

Garden of glass, their first duet, was an excellent way to set the mood.

What Eli didn’t know was that it was the only thing on the disc, nine times in a row, with only a brief intermission for Nico’s single and Nozomi’s, respectively, before three more. Nico burned the disc for her and she agreed to the scheme with pleasure.

By the fifth play, Eli was wearing down. “Nozomi, how many….” She gestured futilely to the radio. Nozomi gave her a one-handed shrug, keeping the other on the wheel.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see~! It’s not too many more.” Despite the feigned tiredness, Nozomi didn’t think Eli had a real problem with it; even on the seventh play she drummed her fingers along to it. “I think it’s a song worthy of repetition.”

Eli gave her a goofy smile. “Well, we’ve certainly listened enough times. Why not sing along? For old times’ sake.”

“You say that like we’re old now!” Nozomi whined, making a big show of looking the other way (though she kept the road in her sights, obviously). “It’s only been a few years!”

“And I’m sure you’ll still be saying that kind of thing when we are old and in our retired years.” Still grinning, Eli leaned up against Nozomi’s seat, reaching to pause the radio. “Come on! Even if I can’t say it’s for reminiscing, I’d still love to sing it again. A song we don’t have to wait for a reunion to sing properly.”

She shook her head. “Oh, fine. You’ve worn me down.”

This time when the tune started up, Nozomi waited patiently for the background vocal to die down before her verse began. Eli did the same, and, after what seemed like the longest time, they sang along together again – seriously, too, not just to jingles and the odd replay of a song neither of them was the center for. It was refreshing. Eli’s voice was still as strong and low during the dips as she recalled.

They took it seriously the first time, and less so the second, and by the third, Nozomi just sloppily sang along to parts she really liked while Eli laughed at their perceived seriousness in the recording; no doubt remembering the many, many mistakes from the actual recording session.

By the time Nico’s single came on, Eli rolled her eyes. “I should have known she had something to do with this.”

“I wish I’d asked her to make us more,” Nozomi sighed, leaning back in the seat again. “That was fun.”

“Yeah.” Eli agreed, kicking back in the passenger seat and sticking her legs out as far as the space allowed, trying to stretch out and get cozy for a nap, no doubt. The way she looked when she closed her eyes and relaxed made Nozomi wish there was some sort of safe way to take a picture while she was driving.

* * *

“I, sort of, regret recommending this,” Struggling along up the side of the hill – no, _mountain_ –Nozomi huffed and tried to ignore the complaints from her lungs.

It was mostly her fault, anyways, standing at the base of the hill and, foolishly, childishly deciding to race Eli toward the top. Maybe in high school it was nothing, but regrettably, she didn’t work out with Umi every day anymore, and her endurance had fallen back down to human levels as a result. Eli was tired too, of course, but had the benefit of still keeping a hell of an exercise routine up.

Her wife gave her a toothy grin from ten or fifteen feet up the trail and dropped back to wait for her, offering up her water bottle. “I thought you wanted to race me?” She called out playfully, with no real insult to her tone.

“Maybe I just said that so I could watch your butt when you ran up ahead of me,” Nozomi defended, taking the proffered bottle and having a swig of it before handing it back and straightening herself out.  “I mean, the slope here is perfect and everything. And I brought my camera. Ay- _ass-_ e in action, forever a cherished memory in my collection.” She concluded, running a hand through her hair while she pretended to be suave.

That seemed to stump Eli for a while. As in, a decently long while. Nozomi could practically see the little gears turning in her head. “….No?” Eli said eventually, seeming perplexed. Nozomi snorted and covered her laughter with a hand. Eli fixed her with a petulant frown – like a child. “No,” She said, more insistently.

Nozomi rolled her eyes. “I didn’t get a picture, don’t worry. I know I can see it whenever I want~!” She winked. Eli went beet red.

“Th-that wasn’t the point I was trying to get across...” She muttered, then hastily turned around to lead the way, grabbing Nozomi’s hand. “Enough of that! We’re almost at the top, come on!”

“Whatever you say~!”

“Nozomiiii!”

Despite all the fuss they were making, they reached the top of the hill in a pretty short time, just as Eli had predicted, and Eli’s flushed face was more from exertion than embarrassment now – She stood as close to the edge of the rock formation as was safe and stared out, and Nozomi appreciated the contrast between her and the bright sky.

She snuck a picture of the ‘valiant’ pose Eli was making, too wrapped up in her celebration to notice what a nerdy thing to do it was, and then hurried over to another group of tourists near the wire-frame star at the top. “ _Can you take a picture?”_ she asked, holding the camera out in case the intent was unclear.

Luckily the girl she’d approached with it smiled and gave a nodded response, so Nozomi turned the camera over to her and ran up to Eli, tapping her on the shoulder. “Let’s have our picture taken!”

“Hm?” It took a second, but Eli noticed the girl and understood; she slung an arm around Nozomi to rope her in closer and smiled brightly. Nozomi wrapped an arm around Eli’s side and did the same, holding the pose until she heard the second or third click. Thorough, huh? Or maybe this girl just didn’t think she took a good one..

Either way, Nozomi and Eli split off and the girl that had taken the pictures gave Nozomi a thumbs up. She wandered back off to her group and Nozomi looked to Eli. “The day is still going. Is there anything you want to do?”

Eli thought about it, looking up and bringing a hand to her chin. “Well, I expected to be tired, but reaching the top has filled me with energy. I don’t want to just be lazy for the rest of the day, but I don’t think another hike is up my alley, either…..”

“Why don’t we go check out town, then?” Nozomi suggested, staring out at the nearest one from the cliff’s edge. “It’d be a good time to go to a restaurant, or maybe shop a little.”

“Yeah, that sounds fun.” She agreed easily, standing up tall next to Nozomi and taking in the sight with her. All the staring down seemed to remind her of something, though, because Eli deflated. “Ah, but we have to get down first. I wanted to get there a little sooner.”

“I’m sure we’ll get there in time.” Nozomi consoled, giving her a pat on the back. Seeing the way Eli was looking at the trail, though, she couldn’t help but slouch a little, looking uneasily between her expression and the long road down. “…As long as you don’t suggest a second race.”

Eli giggled, and agreed to have a pleasantly paced walk back down.

* * *

They’d been driving for a little while through the nearby towns, taking care to stay in range of the hotel they’d already booked a room in, when Eli caught sight of a building with a sign in bright blue lettering that looked promising to her. “Is that an ice rink?”

Nozomi glanced over. “….Looks like it. Do you want to go in?”

Eli’s eyes shone.

That was a yes. Nozomi pulled over and they got out together. Once inside, there was a little difficulty in getting the correct sizes of skates, but it worked out in the end, Nozomi lacing hers up slowly while Eli went and (attempted to) order some hot chocolate at the snack stand. They couldn’t take it on the ice, obviously, but it didn’t look like it would get cold before they had a chance to come back, so it was just an opportunity for it to cool down.

Eli sat down next to her and did up her own skates. “So, you know how to skate, right? I know there are some places to do it not _too_ far from home, though I’m not sure if you’ve gone.”

“Nope!” Nozomi replied cheerfully. “It can’t be too hard, though. And if it is, you can just teach me!”

Eli gave a hesitant nod and offered a hand, pulling Nozomi onto the rink with her. They clung to the sides at first, Nozomi never _quite_ tripping but coming damn close to it, and after a couple minutes of wall hugging Eli pulled her out towards the middle. Nozomi was able to follow far enough. “So, what you want to try and do is –“

“Aaah!” Scratch that, she wasn’t following as far as she thought. Eli hastily pulled her up, and left a comforting hand on her shoulder as a sort of ‘sorry-for-letting-you-fall-while-I-was-distracted’.

“Well, uh, first, don’t do that,” Eli started, though it was soon cut off by the fact that Nozomi had rolled her eyes so hard it practically made a noise.

“Teacher of the year.”

Eli pouted, crossing her arms. “Look, this is – this is the sort of thing you learn by doing, you know? Like riding a bike!”

Nozomi raised an eyebrow. “ _You_ don’t know how to ride a bike.”

“..That wasn’t my point, it’s just an expression.” She retorted stiffly, turning her head away. After maybe a half a second of grudge-holding, she cracked an eye open and decided to be helpful again, gesturing with her head towards the other side of the rink. “Look, I’m going to go over there. If you can get to me from….say eight, meters away, then we can go back and have our hot chocolates.”

“And there’s nothing else you can offer?”

Looking perplexed, Eli cocked her head to the side. “I don’t quite understand what you mean. Isn’t learning already an incentive?”

She rolled her eyes again. “How about…..I get to the wall, and you give me a kiss _and_ we go get the hot chocolate?”

“ _Or_ , I could save that for when you get all the way around the rink by yourself.” Eli countered, looking pleased. “I didn’t even think about using kisses as incentive. Good catch.”

And with that, she winked, blew a kiss, and skated out of range.

Nozomi blushed and tried to come up with a solution for her new problem – namely, being stranded in the dead center of the rink without a wall or a wife to hold onto. And that hot chocolate was sounding really good, now, too……

Damn. She supposed this was karma for teasing Eli the whole time – now she was the one being teased.

With a deep breath, she summoned up her courage and made a faltering path for Eli, attempting to force her balance to stay with her. Eli gave her a polite wave, and she was _so close_ – Nozomi tried to move faster and stumbled the remaining distance, slamming Eli into the wall with her.

Eli seemed a little bit more preoccupied with where their heads were than any pain she might’ve felt from being used as a cushion, though.

Nozomi pulled away with a mischievous giggle. “Oops?”

“That’s definitely cheating,” Eli breathed out, not looking annoyed in the slightest. “Now it’s two laps.”

She laughed and leaned in again, and Eli reciprocated, but after a third, longer kiss, leaned down into her ear with a mutter of, “Make it five.”

“Elicchi!” Nozomi playfully hit her on the arm, and Eli gave an innocuous whistle and headed off for their cocoa – without her. Nozomi sulked and made her way around the rink. “..Definitely karma.” She concluded, holding back a laugh when Eli gave her another overly-polite wave from where they’d left their stuff.

* * *

As fun as everything had been – and she did mean everything – obviously, they had to turn around at some point.

They took a bit of a lower route, since the fastest way to get back to the airport they’d arrived from wasn’t the way they’d taken to get where they did – but it was a lot of driving and talking, mostly, and if they passed a cool-looking spot, Nozomi would take pictures. But it wasn’t as high-energy as the leading half of their trip had been.

One night, when they were pulling an all-nighter and switching off driving and napping, Nozomi was wasting her passenger seat time awake, staring out the window. They were driving through the countryside, far past midnight, and with almost no other cars on the road. It was just somehow striking to her, to see her surroundings so empty.

“Can we pull over for a bit, Eli?” She asked, wanting a closer look.

Without much of a response, Eli did as asked, only looking over to Nozomi when the car had been parked and she was opening the door, camera in hand. “Why are you getting out of the car?”

“I want to see something.” She replied, none of her usual teasing to her voice. Nozomi shivered when she fully breached the outside, the cool night air sending a jolt up her spine. She considered reaching back in and grabbing her jacket from the backseat, but decided it would be more memorable to feel it as it happened.

That in mind, Eli had her complaints when Nozomi abruptly scaled the side of the car and took a seat on the top of it. In an almost comical move, Eli rolled the window of the driver’s seat down to ask her about it instead of just opening the door and coming out herself. “Nozomi! What are you doing up there?!”

“Elicchi, look up!” She said, dramatically. “Everything is here!” Nozomi shivered again, half out of the cold and half out of excitement. In the open night air, every star she could’ve dreamed existed hung over their heads, constellations she’d read about standing bold against the dark backdrop.

No cities for at least a hundred miles, no cars on the road with them – no light pollution. Usually she needed a telescope for this.

After several moments of deliberation, Eli came out too, and Nozomi snickered as she heard her coming up the side of the car very, very slowly – obviously afraid of damaging the windows, or something.

Eli settled in next to her and coughed, drawing Nozomi’s attention. “I brought your jacket out.” She said by way of explanation, and Nozomi smiled and took it from her, offering a kiss on the cheek for her troubles. Eli blushed and it was visible even in the low light. “So……..It’s really gorgeous out here, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Nozomi agreed, falling onto her back with a sigh and giving Eli a start. She remained firmly on the roof of the car, though, so all that worry wasn’t for much. She squinted and pointed upwards, trying to trace what she was looking for. “Do you see your constellation?”

“My constellation?” Eli blinked, seeming confused. After a moment, she caught on. “Oh, you mean my sign?”

“Yeah, Libra.” Trying to find it for herself, Nozomi explained. “It’s fall, so it should be visible….” Another few moments, and then she succeeded. “Right…There! See it?”

Eli shook her head, drawing in closer to her own jacket. “I’m afraid I don’t.”

Nozomi rolled over on the car roof, propping herself up with an elbow. Eli seemed to be looking, but not in the right place. She patted the roof next to where her head was. “Lay down. I’ll help you find it.”

“Okay.” They ended up quite close together, the car being pretty small and the roof only highlighting that – and Eli’s hair tickled her ear while Nozomi leaned her head closer so that she could take one of Eli’s arms and guide her to the right area. Eli felt warm.

“Look at where we’re pointing, okay?”

Eli felt a little warmer. “Got it.” Nozomi laughed and traced the scales for her, trying to take into account where they’d be from Eli’s perspective.

“Oh! I see it now!”

Some things were worth seeing twice. Even though it was distracting, and it would ruin her night eyes for a while – Nozomi lifted the camera, put the flash on, and angled it at the two of them. Eli wasn’t looking, but the picture would probably turn out perfectly anyways – that how pictures tended to work when Eli was in the mix.

The flash obviously caught her attention, because Eli turned her head from the sky to look at Nozomi. “Why didn’t you tell me you were taking a picture? I wasn’t looking!”

“I guess we’ll have to stay up here for a while and take another, then.” Nozomi said, sitting up with the help of her arms behind her, propping her up while she tilted her head back. She surveyed the empty roadside around them again. “Do you mind a bit of fresh air, Elicchi?”

Eli sat up too, covering Nozomi’s hand with her own when she leaned back to look up with her. “Not at all.”

They stayed up on the roof like that for almost an hour, only coming down when the wind and reminder that their trip was nearly over forced them back into the car, switching off every so often as if they’d never taken a break.

When they made it back to the city with the airport, Nozomi helped Eli pick out chocolates for all her students and friends (and kept her from attempting to buy the whole store, after having a taste), and they spent one more day taking pictures until their evening flight home.

And, when Nozomi looked out the window halfway home, she found that the sky wasn’t so unfamiliar anymore.

* * *

Even though they were back, Eli and Nozomi had agreed that they were taking just a few extra days off after the trip to get re-adjusted to the timezone again.

Rin thanked them profusely for letting her take care of the cat, having been there to give her breakfast when the couple returned, and only left after she’d gotten absolutely as much information as possible out of them (and after Eli cracked open the bag and gave Rin her candy, which she’d accidentally mentioned in one of the aforementioned conversations).

Really, when everything was said and done, it felt nice as hell to be asleep in her own bed again. Nozomi yawned and sat up in bed, stretching her arms out and rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. “Elicchi?” She called, when there was nobody occupying the other side.

“Making breakfast!” Eli called back.

She stood up and stretched again, feeling their cat skitter across the floor to rub up against her legs. Nozomi smiled and bent down to pet her, earning some loud purrs for her trouble. “I think I’m her favorite now!”

“Whaaat? No way.” Eli replied, while Nozomi scooped up the cat and carried her into the front, setting her down on the cat tree in the living room. She wandered into the kitchen next, where Eli was making some eggs, lazily pushing them around in the pan. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby. You?”

Eli shrugged, then flipped the eggs and admitted, “Honestly, I think I got a little _too_ used to sleeping in the car. Our bed felt almost too soft for me.”

“First time I’ve ever heard someone complain about _that_ ,” Nozomi giggled, but did take a moment to reflect on it. “But, come to think of it, you did adjust pretty quickly, if your snoring was any indication.”

“I don’t snore!” She defended, pretending to swat at her with the spatula. “Lies! Slander! I can’t believe I’m making eggs for you!”

Nozomi pretended to dodge and continued to tease her. “You sounded like a second engine.”

Eli pretended to be hurt, turning away and sticking her nose up in the air. “Nomi doesn’t treat me like this,” She sniffed. “Maybe I’ll go live in the car with my cat.”

“I’m just teasing, you big baby.” Nozomi slipped around to Eli’s side and leaned up to give her a kiss. “Even if you snored like a chainsaw, I’d just find a way to get you to stop.”

Eli grinned and returned the favor, giving her a kiss and then turning around to finish up the eggs. They ate together and Nozomi wondered fleetingly if the pictures were done developing yet. Nozomi fled off to her room after breakfast, pulling out her camera and checking the pictures while Eli browsed on her laptop with the cat in her lap, in comfortable silence. Being on vacation was lovely, but staying home definitely had its’ charms, too.

The sun cracked through the horizon, finally at the same time she was used to, and she yawned and piled in next to Eli on the couch. Nobody would mind, probably, if she pretended she was a few hours behind just a little longer. 


End file.
